The midterm elections in America shine a light on the political system there and the focus of the media upon it. The tunnel vision on the presidential aspect in the US by the press and, therefore, the voting public, distorts any understanding of democracy in the nation as a whole. The narrative perpetuated by the media is always in tight focus on the president because it is an easier story to tell. This is relevant for us in Australia, as we chew the fat about becoming a republic in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The truth is that we have not been governed by a ruling monarch for a very long time. Similarly, America is not ruled by one man (or woman) but by a Congress of elected representatives. The media, however, bangs on about Biden this and Trump that because they love to tell a simplified story to their viewers.
Sole Leader Story Bears No Substance In Fact
The danger within this stratagem is that it turns a complex situation into a Punch and Judy show. The American presidential system places all the attention on a contest between two candidates and then, upon the sole leader who wins the vote. In reality, if Joe Biden loses the midterm elections, as is usual, he will become a lame duck president. This means he will be unable to get legislation passed into law and most likely will be bogged down by Republican Party enquiries designed to stall any progress. Thus, the supreme power of the president is shown to be a furphy and without any meat on the bone. All political systems contain checks and balances to prevent unrestrained dictatorial activity. The house of representatives and the senate house of review are in place to prevent abuses of power by an autocratic leader.
Electing The Top Dog & All Its Perils
The failure of the Australian republican movement constitutional vote in 1999 was in part because many people wanted a popular vote for an Australian president like that in the US. Whereas the politicians wanted the nation’s titular leader to be appointed, like the current position of governor general. This did not inspire the necessary numbers to make a change from the existing constitutional monarchy, despite the figure head remaining in another country – Britain. Australians are traditionally conservative by nature – if it aint broke don’t fix it! I suspect this desire for a popular vote to elect a president will rear its head once more when we come to consider an Australian republic in the near future. Heaven help us if we end up with a similar system to the yanks.
We got rid of kings and queens with real power a long time ago but, it seems, that ordinary folk cannot get enough of simplified stories about the top job. Americans love the hoopla of POTUS and their tunnel vision on the presidential aspect.
The Donald Trump saga, which continues to this day, reveals the many holes in the American democratic system. Trump tried to cause a coup by refusing to accept his electoral defeat and inciting a riot in the capitol.
Despite plenty of evidence of this Trump remains out of gaol and his status as a former POTUS seems to inoculate him from prosecution. No wonder so many Americans want to become rich and famous because they see how it affords the wealthy a different kind of justice. The impotence revealed at the heart of the American political system is a disgrace. No Hollywood movie is going to be able to turn this story into a sentimental tour de force. The fact that an elected politician can go to the polls threatening not to abide by the will of the people is an outrage in itself. If you are not going to play by the rules you should not be able to play in the first place.
It is very easy to just say that Americans are very stupid people. Indeed, it is not much of a stretch to include the whole human race in that judgement. People talk about the stupidity of whales beaching themselves but we exhibit similarly dumb behaviours all the time.
Leadership and how we view and engage with our leaders says a lot about us. Those of us at the bottom of the food chain, often, ignore those at the top as much as we can for as long as we can.
The whole idea of their power over us is unpalatable and best not thought about too often. In Australia, we are forced to vote for our political leaders at every level of government. For many this is the only time they bother thinking about their leaders and the whole political system. These elections become popularity contests rather than policy contests. Uneducated voters cast their minds upon a small group of strangers who are vying to represent their interests within the parliamentary system. Hip pocket concerns marry with superficial engagement of various narratives espoused by candidates on behalf of their political parties. Faces flash up on screens and signs across the nation for some 6 weeks or thereabouts. The most cynical among us tell us that the whole thing is rigged in favour of the rich and powerful and crude though that assessment might be – it is probably right.
Still, it is a contest which is sometimes hard fought, as we see at the midterms in America right at the moment. Will Americans remember the lies and unnecessary deaths from Covid at the hands of the MAGA Republicans or will they focus their razor sharp short term attention span on their economic woes and look for someone to blame? Voting in America is optional and not mandatory; therefore, engagement is less than universal. Will the US Supreme Court’s reversal of federal abortion rights via Roe vs Wade bear fruit for the Democrats in public outrage by women at the ballot box in these midterms? Will the nearly 80 year old Biden and his gaff prone public performance undo the positive effect of these issues? High inflation and rising interest rates. Gas prices pushing up costs across the board. A recession looming over the United States. The democratic system offers a process for voters to blame and punish the party holding office by electing the other mob. The fact that many of their representatives are much worse than the one’s currently carrying the can is neither here nor there for the marginally engaged looking for someone to blame.
The media is the Greek chorus amplifying every trend and endlessly repeating the news which is mostly dire. The press sell newspapers on the back of drama like foul murders and wars.
The public are informed by media barons like Murdoch who see themselves as king makers. The reach of these titans of the fourth estate wraps around nations in the digital age. Their minions churn out opinion pieces like ripe turds on a summer’s day. Beating drums of war or inciting domestic furore via racism or some other socially divisive agenda. The wave of public opinion is easily manipulated around polling time. Nobody is interested in things as boring as policy but crave salacious conspiracy. America used to be a land of puritans who would turn on anyone caught in the act doing improper stuff. Lately, however, Trump has ‘tefloned’ himself from public condemnation by accusing the media of fake news. Casting aspersions over the very instruments that seek to fillet him and his ambitions. Nobody believes what the other side has to say anymore. Will this be the thing that brings down the American empire. Will civil war soon tear this superpower apart? Trump may not be making America great again but consigning it to the dustbin of history.
©House Therapy